Talks over 'ghost tram stop' at Broad Marsh

6 hours ago

Joe Locker

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The former shopping centre is due to be turned into homes and offices

BBC The remains of the Broad Marsh shopping centre in Nottingham — The former shopping centre is due to be turned into homes and offices

Tram bosses are planning talks over opening a new stop at a former shopping centre in Nottingham.

Nottingham Express Transit (NET) said it could serve a new £25m NHS diagnostics centre, which is planned to be built on the former Broadmarsh shopping centre site.

The foundations for Broad Marsh tram stop were built into the viaduct along Middle Hill in 2004, but it was not turned into one.

The tram operator said it planned to discuss the new stop with the parties involved in regenerating the wider site.

The new £25m Community Diagnostics Centre aims to be a "one-stop shop" offering various tests and scans

Nottingham City Council An artist's impression of an NHS diagnostics centre in Nottingham's city centre. The illustration shows a glass-fronted building with green cladding on the sides surrounding by a row of trees. — The new £25m Community Diagnostics Centre aims to be a "one-stop shop" offering various tests and scans

Nottingham City Council, which took on the shopping centre site in 2020 after operator intu went into administration, put the land up for sale.

In March, it was announced Homes England - the government's housing and regeneration agency - had bought it.

The regeneration will see most of the remaining shopping centre demolished and the new medical facility built.

The agency also acquired land to the west of Green Heart park, including a former college and an NCP car park, both of which are due to be demolished.

It plans to transform the area into about 1,000 homes, alongside up to 20,000 sq m of retail, office and community space.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust plans to open the new Community Diagnostics Centre offering MRI, CT, X-ray, and ultrasound scans, alongside other other tests, in Lister Gate in 2026.

Homes, offices and commercial space are all planned for the Broad Marsh site

Homes England An artist's impression of how the wider Broad Marsh site in Nottingham could look after redevelopment — Homes, offices and commercial space are all planned for the Broad Marsh site

Alison Sweeney, head of marketing at NET, said at a council meeting on Tuesday that meetings were planned with Homes England and the NHS trust to discuss the new stop, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

"There is what you call a ghost tram stop that was put in when the extension took place for the lines south of our railway station," she told councillors.

"It is something that is not in use at the moment.

"As we understand there is going to be a flurry of development works in and around that area.

"I think we are all in agreement the benefits of having a tram stop at that position, with easy access to the diagnostics centre and developments is the main one really."

However, she added NET would not be able to "fund such a project".

"We will wholeheartedly attune to those discussions as something that would be a positive enhancement to the network, but funding would have to come from another party," she said.

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